Permanent Weight Management – Informationspot

Losing weight is easy but keeping it off is the goal. When 95% of dieters begin regaining their weight immediately after stopping a diet, how can you achieve success? By paying yourself first.

After maintaining my weight loss of over 140 pounds since 2005, I realized that it takes about an hour a day. What exactly takes an hour to manage my weight? You can actually achieve several things in that hour to achieve success.

Long-term or permanent weight management depends on lifestyle changes. After all, if you continue doing the same thing you've always done, you can expect to continue to struggle with your weight.

The lifestyle changes do not have to be dramatic and all at once. But they do need to be focused, results-oriented and consistent and it is important for you to stay open minded and flexible to trying new things.

Let's look further at these. Focused. Focused lifestyle changes are all about reviewing your current eating and activity habits and making small changes until you feel good about your new plan. For example, if you've always exercised but you continue to overeate because after all "you are active", you'll need to keep track of your food intake and determine the amount of calories you take in daily. Once you know your eating habits, you can develop a plan to cut back slowly to make sure your increased activity level is helping you lose weight.

Results-oriented. There's no reason in making a lifestyle change if you do not see results. Why bother going through the trouble of altering anything in your life if there is nothing in it for you! Results in weight loss depends on a simple math equation of calories in must be less than calories out and calories out must equal 3500 to lose one pound.

Knowing this math formula helps you decide how to make changes to get results. For example, after tracking your food intake you notice you eat most of your calories after 6 pm because you do not have time during the day to prepare and eat meals; part of your plan should include better time management skills. Knowing that successful weight managers eat breakfast faithfully every day, you'll need to find a way to do the same if you want to see results. Improving your time management skills and reorganizing your day is an essential part of your healthy lifestyle plan to achieve permanent results.

Consistent. The reason 95% of dieters begin regaining their weight after stopping a diet is because they stop doing what works consistently. The average dieter tries 4 to 5 diets a year and probably loses weight on each of them. However, they are still dieting 4 or 5 times a year! That means that the diet itself is failing them. And regardless of how the latest diet is marketed, that simple equation of calories in must be less than calories out, never changes. That small small print on the bottom of the advertisement proves it. When you get up close you'll see the disclaimer that "results are not typical" and the product is used with a calorie reduction and increased activity plan. Just save your money. Reduce your calories and increase your activity on your own for free! Just remember to be consistent. To achieve permanent weight management, your healthy eating and activity plan must be consistent every day.

Open minded and flexible. It may seem strange to receive a weight loss tip to be open minded. Most weight loss tips have to do with drink more water, eat more fiber, go low fat and move more. And while all of these tips are very important for a healthy lifestyle, keeping an open mind and being flexible are equally important. You see, when you venture out to lose weight and lose it permanently, you must prepare to change. The changes you will go through during weight loss not only include physical but emotional and mental as well.

Yes the size of your body will change as you lose weight but you will change in some awesome ways as well. As you lose weight and even during maintenance, you will gain self esteem, confidence and your self image will change dramatically. In fact, you'll become a different person and you will need to adjust with each phase of weight loss and weight management. The easiest way to adjust is to keep an open mind and remain flexible. Trying a different way to exercise to increase intensity, looking for solutions to your weight problem outside of the latest fad diet and dealing with your challenges rather than coping with them through food are just a few areas that you will need to keep an open mind and remain flexible.

So why an hour a day? Because an hour a day is all it takes to achieve permanent weight management. Exercising according to the latest guidelines of 30 minutes a day on most days and spending the other 30 minutes preparing your mind for success will lead to your weight management goals. An hour all day is a strategy I started in 2004 that helped me lose over 140 pounds and keep it off!